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SEC. 3. An election for members of the United States Congress shall be held in the congressional districts as established by this convention, one member of Congress being elected in the State at large, at the same time and places as the election for State officers; said election to be conducted by the same persons and under the same regulations before mentioned in this ordinance; the returns to be made in the same manner provided for State officers.

SEC. 4. The general assembly elected under this ordinance shall assemble at the capitol, in the city of Richmond, on Wednesday, the 24th day of June, 1868. SEC. 5. The commanding general is requested to enforce this ordinance.

CONGRESSIONAL APPORTIONMENT.

Be it ordained by the people of Virginia in convention assembled, that the following-named counties shall compose the respective congressional districts: The counties of Accomac, Northampton, Northumberland, Richmond, Westmoreland, Essex, Lancaster, Middlesex, King and Queen, King William, Glouces ter, Mathews, York, James City, city of Williamsburg, Elizabeth City, Warwick, King George and Caroline, with a population of 151,295, shall form the first congressional district.

The counties of Princess Anne, Norfolk city, Norfolk county, city of Portsmouth, Nansemond, Southampton, Greenesville, Sussex, Surry, Dinwiddie, city of Petersburg, Prince George, Isle of Wight and Nottoway, with a population of 150,584, shall form the second congressional district.

The counties of Charles City, Henrico, city of Richmond, Hanover, Chesterfield, Goochland, Powhatan, Amelia, Cumberland, and New Kent, with a population of 149,021, shall form the third congressional district.

The counties of Brunswick, Mecklenburg, Lunenburg, Charlotte, Halifax, Pittsylvania, Franklin, Patrick and Henry, with a population of 160,730, shall form the fourth congressional district.

The counties of Greene, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Nelson, Buckingham, Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Campbell, Prince Edward, and the city of Lynchburg, with a population of 155,490, shall form the fifth congressional district.

The counties of Frederick, city of Winchester, Clarke, Warren, Page, Shenandoah, Rockingham, Augusta, town of Staunton, Highland, Bath, Botetourt, Allegheny, and Rockbridge, with a population of 146,824, shall form the sixth congressional district.

The counties of Alexandria, Fairfax, Prince William, Fauquier, Stafford, Rappahannock, Culpeper, Spotsylvania, town of Fredericksburg, Orange, Louisa, Loudoun and Madison, with a population of 158,295, shall form the seventh congressional district.

The counties of Montgomery, Giles, Pulaski, Wythe, Bland, Tazewell, Smyth, Washington, Russel, Scott, Lee, Wise, Buchanan, Grayson, Carroll, Floyd, Craig, and Roanoke, with a population of 147,679, shall form the eighth congressional district.

And there shall be one member of Congress elected by the State at large. This ordinance shall be in force from its passage, and may be altered or repealed by the legislature.

Attest:

JOHN C. UNDERWOOD, President.
GEORGE RYE, Secretary.

J. H. PAINTER, Assistant Secretary.

I certify that this is a true copy of the constitution as adopted, and ordered

to its engrossment.

EDGAR ALLAN,

Chairman, Committee on Engrossment.

LETTER

OF

THE SECRETARY OF WAR,

COMMUNICATING

A letter of Major General Canby and its enclosures, relating to an ordinance of the South Carolina convention providing for the assembling of the general assembly, the temporary organization of each house, the installation of governor and lieutenant governor, and the continuation of the president of the convention in office until after the installation for the purpose of administering oaths.

MAY 8, 1868.-Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary and ordered to be printed.

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington City, May 9, 1868.

SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a communication of this date from the General of the army, forwarding letter of Major General Canby, and its enclosures, relating to an ordinance of the South Carolina convention providing for the assembling of the general assembly, the temporary organization of each house, the installation of governor and lieutenant governor, and the continuation of the president of the convention in office until after the installation for the purpose of administering oaths.

Your obedient servant,

EDWIN M. STANTON,

Secretary of War.

Hon. B. F. WADE,

President of the Senate.

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES,

Washington, D. C., May 9, 1868.

SIR: I have the honor to forward herewith General Canby's letter relating to an ordinance of the South Carolina convention, with enclosures, and to request. that they be laid before Congress as matter of information.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

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U. S. GRANT, General.

HEADQUARTERS SECOND MILITARY DISTRICT,

Charleston, S. C., May 7, 1868.

SIR: On the 16th of March last the constitutional convention, then in session in this city, adopted an ordinance providing:

First. That the general assembly, elected under the new constitution, should assemble on the 12th of May, instant.

Second. That each house should be temporarily organized by the election of a presiding officer.

Third. That as soon as the house is permanently organized by the election of a speaker, and shall have appointed a day for the purpose, the governor shall be installed into office, and the oath of office administered in the of both houses, and also to the lieutenant governor.

presence Fourth. That for the purpose of administering these oaths of office the president of the convention shall be continued in the prerogatives of his office until that duty shall have been performed.

While I regard it as, perhaps, unwise that any steps looking to the organization of the government under the new constitution should be taken before it had received the approval required by law, and which it must have before it becomes in any way effective, still, as I understood that the action of the legis lature would be limited to passing upon the proposed constitutional amendment, article XIV, and that such action would probably facilitate and hasten the restoration of the State, I adopted in the General Order (No. 79) announcing the results of the election the provisions of the ordinance so far as it related to the meeting of the legislature, and provided, unless it should otherwise be directed by law, that the officers elect should enter upon their duties under the new constitution ten days after its approval by the Congress of the United States. That period was fixed as the shortest, in my judgment, that should be allowed the officers of the present provisional government to close up their business, setle their accountabilities, and be prepared to turn over to their successors the records, money, and property for which they are accountable.

If Congress, in acting upon the question, fixes a different date, that action would, of course, control.

Under the provisions of the fifth section of the law of March 2, 1867, Congress does not appear to contemplate that the new government shall go into full operation until after the constitution shall have been approved by Congress, and the legislature elected under the new constitution shall by vote have adopted the proposed constitutional amendment to the Constitution of the United States, (article XIV,) and that article shall have become a part of the Constitution of the United States; but, for reasons which I have heretofore reported, it is so important that its organization should be perfected as far as possible before military authority is withdrawn, that I have considered myself warranted in adopting it as the fundamental law of the State so soon as it is approved by Congress, and providing as soon as possible thereafter for the organization of the new govern

ment.

It has been my wish, and the arrangements that have been made and are being made are in furtherance of that wish, that the transfer of authority should be regular and formal; that the line which fixes the official responsibilities of the old and of the new officers should be distinctly marked; that there should not be in any quarter an interregnum that might create confusion, avoid official responsibility, or endanger the safety or the proper transfer of the public records, money, or property of the State.

There has been, and is, a strong disposition, both in this State and in North Carolina, on the part of subordinate officials, and in view of the approaching change, to tender their resignations and abandon their duties. This created the necessity for the General Order (No. 66) which I enclose herewith. That disposition will, no doubt, be increased now that the change is certain and near, unless it can be controlled, and subordinate officers, particularly those connected with the administration of justice, kept at their posts until their successors, elected under the new constitution, can be legally qualified and installed. The chances of confusion and disorder will be greatly multiplied if the legislature should attempt to put the new government into operation before the constitution,

on which it is based, has been made an effective instrument by the approval of Congress.

I enclose an extract from the General Order in relation to North Carolina, indicating the course it was intended to pursue with regard to the subordinate civil officers in that State, and to those of South Carolina when they are elected. I do not apprehend any trouble with the higher executive and judicial officers in either State, but it is my intention, if there should be, to see personally to the instalment of those elected under the new constitution, so soon as they may be legally qualified.

This intention was based upon the contingency that Congress, in passing upon the question of approving these constitutions, might limit itself to the simple approval, without giving any directions as to the time or manner in which the new governments are to be organized. Of course, if such directions are given, they control the whole subject and remove all difficulties.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

CHIEF OF STAFF,

ED. R. S. CANBY, Brevet Major General Commanding.

Headquarters of the Army, Washington, D. C.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT SOUTH CAROLINA,
Charleston, April 27, 1868.

SIR: The constitution recently adopted by the the convention in Charleston, under the reconstruction act of Congress, has been ratified by a very decided majority of the qualified voters of the State, and will, doubtless, be promptly accepted by Congress.

Under these acts, according to my interpretation, the proceedings are inchoate, and inoperative until the constitution is formally accepted and representation authorized by Congress. Hence the functions of the provisional government will continue in full force until that time.

The object of this note is respectfully to inquire of you at what time, according to your construction of the law, the duties of the provisional officers of the executive department of the present State government will terminate, and when the officers elected under the new constitution will qualify and enter upon their duties? Your early attention to the subject is invoked, so that the answer may satisfy the inquiries of the public, and that all confusion or collision between the outgoing and incoming administrations may be avoided. You are respectfully requested to issue such orders as in your judgment may be necessary to carry into effect the laws of Congress on this subject.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

General E. R. S. CANBY,

JAMES L. ORR, Governor of South Carolina.

Commanding Second Military District.

Official copy:

LOUIS V. CAZIARC,

A. D. C. and A. A. A. G.

HEADQUARTERS SECOND MILITARY DISTRICT,

Charleston, South Carolina, May 1, 1868.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 29th ultimo, making the inquiry as to the time when "the duties of the pro

visional officers of the executive department of the present State government will terminate, and when the officers elected under the new constitution will qualify and enter upon their duties," and to state, in reply, that the fifth section of the law of March 2, 1867, "to provide for the more efficient government of the rebel States," directs that when the constitution shall have been ratified by the people of the State, and "shall have been submitted to Congress for examination and approval, and Congress shall have approved the same, and when said State, by a vote of its legislature, elected under the said constitution, shall have adopted the amendment to the Constitution of the United States proposed by the thirty-ninth Congress, and known as article 14; and when said article shall have become a part of the Constitution of the United States, said State shall be declared to be entitled to representation in Congress, and senators and representatives shall be admitted therefrom upon taking the oath prescribed by law."

The sixth section of the same law enacts "that until the people of said rebel States shall be by law admitted to representation in the Congress of the United States, any civil government which may exist therein shall be provisional only, and in all respects subject to the paramount authority of the United States at any time to abolish, modify, control, or supersede the same; and in all elec tions to any office under such provisional governments all persons shall be entitled to vote, and none others, who are entitled to vote under the fifth section of this act; and no person shall be eligible to any office under any such provisional governments who would be disqualified from holding office under the provisions of the third article of said constitutional amendment."

It will be seen that the government organized under the new constitution remains provisional not only until Congress shall have approved that constitution, but until the legislature shall have adopted the amendment to the Constitution of the United States, known as article 14, and that article shall have become a part of the Constitution of the United States, and the State shall by law be admitted to representation in Congress.

It is very desirable that the organization of the new government should take place as soon as practicable after the approval of the constitution by Congress; that the retirement of the old and the installation of the new executive officers should take place at the same time, and in a formal and regular manner.

It is presumed that Congress will act speedily upon the question of approving the constitution that has been submitted, and that it will fix the date when the executive officers elected under it shall enter upon their duties.

If this should not be done, the duty of fixing the date will devolve upon the district commander, and I propose, in the order announcing the results of the election, to designate the tenth day after the approval of the constitution by Congress as the day on which the duties of the provisional officers of the executive district of the present State government will terminate, and when the corresponding officers elected under the new constitution will enter upon their duties.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

ED. R. S. CANBY, Brevet Major General, Commanding.

His Excellency JAMES L. ORR,
Governor of South Carolina.

Official copy:

LOUIS V. CAZIARC,

A. D. C. and A. A. A. G.

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